WEST Ham United striker Freddie Sears has signed a new five-year contract at the Boleyn Ground.

The England Under-19 international, who has committed his future to the Hammers until the summer of 2013, becomes the second Irons player this week to pen a long-term deal.

Fellow frontman Carlton Cole signed a contract for an identical period on Monday evening.

Sears burst on to the first-team scene with a last-gasp winner on his Premier League debut against Blackburn Rovers in March.

Since then, he has failed to score in 18 subsequent appearances - 12 as a substitute - but the club has decided to invest in the potential and goalscoring form he has shown at reserve and youth team level.

Now, Sears is determined to replicate those displays in Gianfranco Zola's first-team.

"Last year was getting in and around the team and now I am looking to keep building on what I have been doing - getting more chances of playing week-in, week-out and showing people what I can do," said the teenager, who celebrates his birthday on Thursday.

"Obviously I am learning every day. I am 19 tomorrow and just trying to get better all the time and see how far I can go."

Chief executive Scott Duxbury said the new deal would encourage the club's Academy youngsters to make their own way into the first-team squad.

"Our philosophy is very much about developing home-grown players in the Academy and then integrating them into the first-team squad," he explained.

"Freddie has achieved that and we are looking forward to him playing his part in a bright future for West Ham United."